Page 82 of Stealing Jia

“You are not yet Askole and will only slow me down.”

“But…” Trayon’s mouth closed over mine and he kissed me senseless.

Chiara stuck her head between us and hissed. “Are you eating Mother Jia?”

A laugh escaped Trayon“No, I am kissing her.”

“What is the purpose of kissing?”

“It’s a way we show our affection,”I answered and pressed my lips to her scaly head.

Pepe chimed in,“Me no get kissing.”

Adoz chirped mournfully.

The twins scurried up to my chest. “We like kisses.”

To my utter surprise, Trayon gave all the kids a smooch. “You are a blessing from the Goddess.”

“Ax. Pappa.” Cason cooed.

Trayon hugged him tightly. “You are a worthy son.”

Aw. My intimidating Askole was a big softy.“I love you all very much, but I need to talk to Father Trayon. Alone.”

“Yes, Mother Jia. Come children,”Chiara said.

The kids followed her into the bedroom.

Chiara had blossomed from a frightened child into a confident warrior. I grabbed Trayon’s arm before he could zoom away.“Adam has never seen an Askole before, he will attack you. Me, he won’t.”

“The Adam you know, and love, might not exist anymore.”

I hated it, but Trayon had a valid point. “If he still lives, bring him back to me.”

“You have my promise.” Trayon brushed his lip over mine. “Once you are fully Askole, I will be proud to have you fight at my side.”

“Deal. The minute you find Adam…”

“I will tell you,” Trayon inserted.

“Annihilate those bastards.”

Trayon gave me his toothy smile. “I will bring you Giovanni’s head.”

“Oh. Gosh. That’s not really necessary.”

“As you wish.” Trayon zoomed away.

The Rodan base fell within an hour. I mentally tagged along as the assault team hit the lab. Nothing remained except a mountain of rotting body parts. Mallox, Giovanni, and the prisoners were nowhere to be found.

A stomach-churning wave of fear hit me. Was Adam dead? No! I would know if he had died, wouldn’t I? With every ounce of power I had, I reached out to Adam. For a moment, I connected with him. His thoughts were alien. Savage. Instead of hands, he had talons. His gut ached from hunger. A hysterical woman was shoved into his cell. Nausea clogged my throat when he began tearing at her flesh. The woman’s screams seemed to go on forever.

“Enough,”Trayon commanded and severed the link.

I made a broken, gasping sound. Once again, I had failed Adam. My loving brother was gone and in his place was a lab created monstrosity.

“None of this is your fault,”Trayon interjected.“We will find Adam and the others. If they are beyond our help, they will be humanely put down.”

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